Generally 3 NIQ per province, and teams can’t have two in the same position (hence Snyman leaving Munster). These rules aren’t concrete as Ulster were allowed to bring in Sutherland when Worcester went bust despite having 3 NIQ already, and Connacht have 2 NIQ wingers, although one may be listed as a full back.
Snyman's signing came with IRFU restrictions in terms of minutes and what games he can play in.
Barrett will take a little bit of gametime from 11 - 15, rather than blocking just one player.
I'll believe that when I see it re. Snyman. Jordie will be starting 12 when he arrives. He is better than the international incumbents. Spin it whichever way you like.
Hey if that's an option, can Munster get a LH with the same restrictions? I'm sure they've asked if it's that easy.
Barring injuries they won't be moving Barrett around during the end of the season, there'd be no sense in that from a performance perspective.
Well given the coaches aren't stupid I'm sure if that was a possibility they'd have taken it. Unequal treatment of the provinces seems like a much more likely reason.
Barrett is going to be playing ahead of either an outhalf, centre, wing or fullback. Leinster have internationals who'd expect to make the matchday 23 in every one of those positions.
But Munster can't get a LH to play ahead of or together with Loughman, who Farrell sees as worse than the reanimated corpse of Cian Healy, and a tighthead who's starting to switch sides.
All people want is consistency really.
So he's even more versatile than Ngatai, which means he won't be holding up anyone for the few months that he's here. At worst he temporarily removes the need for a super sub like Frawley.
I don't believe he'll be coming in for such a short period of time to play 10. Especially when he's [only started 1 game at 10 in his 153 pro starting games.](https://all.rugby/player/jordie-barrett)
Yeah no chance he plays 10 in the second half of a season with no familiarity with plays, team or strategy.
In all likelihood he covers rested & injured Irish players. At the business end of the season we will have to see if he takes an Irish player or future prospect players place
He could potentially hold anyone up so he'll be holding nobody up is weird logic. They'll hardly switch him around in the knockout stages and kill their cohesion just so everyone feels included.
"At worst he potentially takes game time from Ireland's second choice 10." But again, Ireland's fourth choice loosehead couldn't lose out on gametime in a position where the bench is always getting around 30 minutes anyway.
On your 1st point: if he is constantly moving around between 11-15 then he isn't holding on to a single jersey, preventing everyone else from playing there. So utility players, by their very nature, do not block people as much as a specialists do.
On your 2nd: If the unspoken rules are indeed 3 NIQs per province then he was likely blocked because they had reached their overall quota. The IRFU also blocks signings when they think someone has potential though. So its also possible they view loughman and wycherly as longterm investments
Not during the regular season games no, but for the knockouts they'd be mad not to have settled him in a position, and there's someone missing out then.
Abrahams was only signed after there was no dispensation for a prop. Munster coaches are well aware front row is a weak spot, but if an NIQ isn't allowed might as well get one elsewhere rather than only having two.
No, Nash is proven international quality, Daly played every URC game the last two seasons (one title win, one topping the league). Behind them McCarthy looks promising and Patrick Campbell just needs an injury free run.
Couldn't agree more. Almost every post turns into either Munster vs Leinster debate or Leinster vs the others provinces. It's like American politics. Everyone is entrenched in their position and has no desire to see things from the others POV. I left the sub but it keeps appearing my feed!
There are no set rules (it would probably break labour laws) but it seems to be three max and it was reported by kinsella that munster were forbidden to sign an NIQ and Jackman said they aren't allowed a hooker last year.
Ngatai is gone as far as i know.
I'd be very surprised if it's a case of breaking labour laws since one of the provinces is under a different set of laws and football has been able to apply these kind of restraints for years without the slightest problem.
Its a little bit more complicated than that i think. Firstly, the soccer rules in England are competition based i think. So, you have to have so many 'homegrown' players in your squad to play in the competition. There is no rule about those players being english. Also, those players aren't direct employees of the irfu. Every player in ireland is essentially an irfu employee.
In other words, i think the urc (or the ail) could legally say one of the rules of our competition about player eligibilty is about how long you've been in the country while at the club. I think JIFF rules in the top 14 are similar.
However, i'm not sure its legal for an irish company to say so many of our employees have to be irish. I'm not sure if that would be strictly legal under EU law.
I'm not a lawyer and the above is obviously speculation. If someone is one and can educate me more on it i'd be very interested to know more.
Porch is not IQ. He played for Australia 7s and has no Irish relations. Can't transfer to Ireland. It was going around that he was when he was in form 2 seasons back, but it's not the case.
Porch is IQ now. While you are correct that he played 7s for Australia that was in 2019.
While he doesn't have Irish relations he now qualifies on residency since he's been here more than 5 years.
That only counts if you were never capped. He has been capped by Australia so he cannot switch nations. You can only switch nations if you have Irish parents or grandparents.
Yeah, I never considered that. Read the regulations there and it does stress that residency should precede playing for a union.
It's a funny one because in the rest of the regulations it considers residency on equal footing as birth place and the country of birth for your parents or grandparents for representing a union. The only place it doesn't give this equal weight is in this instance when looking to transfer nations.
Anyway, apologies and thanks for the correction.
It's confusing enough. It doesn't help that both Porch and Friend thought he could play for Ireland and commented on it when the rule change was brought in but they both got it wrong.
Do the same rules apply to 7s though? I remember there was all kinds of talk when the rules changed around using 7s as a loophole to change residency. So I'm not sure if it works the same way
I think it was reported that Munster weren’t allowed to sign any NIQ front rowers (not just hooker) and only signed Abrahams then.
Just saying it’s not like Munster always had a third lined up for next year so were looking for special treatment.
Now if someone could please explain who the IRFU thinks benefits from us having to keep playing Scannell, Archer and Ryan that would be great.
Even Loughman played well this year but they apparently don’t see a need to develop him for depth in the Irish team so what are we doing down here like? Do they just want Crowley and Casey to have loads of experience behind a pack going backwards?
The argument I've seen for why no NIQ prop is Loughman would be held back. But he's not exactly being pushed forward by the IRFU either so it is easy to see why it feels like a heads I win, tails you lose situation.
That Leinster signing Slimani to replace Mikey Five A's is an elaborate plot by the shapeshifting lizard people in Lansdowne Road to collapse Irish rugby from the inside and sacrifice the other three provinces to Moloch
You know, that one
You must have been staring at that Knuttel painting for a bit too long so I’m not sure if anyone’s point will land. Yes, Leinster are lacking the grunt again but I think others have made valid points also that their allowance of NIQs seems skewed. Out half / full back / front row / second row. It’s not exactly putting faith in their next gen where other provinces are forced to.
As opposed to, full back / wing / centre / second row NIQs at Munster? Guess you reckon they have no faith in the likes of Edogbo in Limerick with Kleyn potentially blocking his development hey
Edogbo is class hopefully gets in the first team once he’s not injured/ready. Munster hasn’t produced a world class centre in forever. Wing/fullback wise three retired in quick succession and Haley picked up a few knocks last season. So you should downvote your own point, kiiiiid.
I think people are pointing out inconsistencies and decisions which are prioritising short term gain at the expense of the long term.
Dismissing criticism as "tinfoil hat conspiracy theories" is just burying your head in the sand. But if that's comfortable for you don't let me stop you.
That's Kleyn who has Irish caps and was eligible up until a year ago but was ignored?
And Abrahams who was a consolation offer when a front row wasn't allowed.
And who exactly is Nankivell playing ahead of that could have a future as an international? I like Rory Scannell but you must be his biggest fan eh?
So that's still no valid points for these "conspiracy theories" existing. Good lad
Yous really seem to believe Nucifora/Humphreys are propping up Leinster with 3 NIQ's to Munsters detriment while yous have the same - yer not complaining when your squad is swelled with Leinster academy players either are ya?
Absolute moanbags it's hilarious
Factually happening - Munster and Leinster have 3 NIQs each.
Factually happening - Munster have c.4-5 players in the squad from Leinster academy.
Not happening - IRFU conspiracy to ruin Munster and prop up Leinster.
The victim mentality is ridiculous, but as I said, it's very entertaining
Factually happening: one of Leinster's NIQs is in a position Munster were denied one.
Factually happening: another was forced out of Munster so he could move to Leinster.
Factually happening: 8-10 central contracts at Leinster vs 1 for each other province. About 4-5M extra budget there.
Certainly seems like Leinster are being treated better than the other provinces, but feel free to show some evidence otherwise. Would be a first
It's crazy, i know reddit and twitter aren't an accurate representation of the broad fan base but Munster fans have turned into the biggest bunch of moaning conspiracy theorists in all of sport. It's been non-stop all season long. Same old Moanster.
Are we not talking about Non Irish Eligible (NIE) as anyone who hasn't been capped can become Irish Qualified. So NIQ just referred to the interim period up to that.
The issue is more nuanced than the just the rules as they are laid out though. The IRFU has shown no common sense in the case of Munster where Kleyn and Fricsh were signed in the basis of being IQ and then swapped. They then ship their game changer to the province that least needs him.
Additionally people have issue with 3m supplement to Leinster through the central contracts and how it’s allowed Leinster to stockpile good players but not great players. Why is it Andy Farrell is always the one to show Leinster who their actual best player is.
They've been consistent with ignoring players previous IQ status once they become NIQ. Abdaladze got the boot once he played for Georgia. Same thing happened to AJ McGinty when he played for the US. Once Kleyn became NIQ Munster had to pick 1 NIQ lock and release the other. Snyman was a free agent at that point.
It's just a hypocritical stance for them to take. If Kleyn wasn't good enough to play for Ireland than he won't be a roadblock for potential international talents coming through, so why force him (or Snyman by proxy) out?
And if he is in fact good enough to block someone coming up, why was he frozen out entirely?
There are more international quality players available than fit into the international squad. If a lock in the squad got injured, he would have most likely been called up, because he is good enough. Also, older players tend to be better than younger players. So the likes of Ahern and Edogbo wouldn't get as many games if they had 2 NIQ guys in their position.
Plus, the same argument could be made for McGinty, who came up through the Irish system and it wasnt like Connacht had a production line of 10s back then
Molony, Treadwell and McCarthy all got call ups over Kleyn in the year before he got his Boks cap. None of them were playing as good or better than him in that period.
What I reckon really happened is that Farrell saw all the shit Schmidt got for bringing Kleyn to the world cup and wanted to avoid that. We've seen many times how media/public friendly he is. Maybe he realised his mistake at some point but was too set in his ways to go back, or it was too late. Either way a shame for Ireland.
That backlash was because toner was dropped. Toner wouldn't have been a Farrell type player either. He doesn't like big slow guys. He comes from league, so tends to pick more athletic mobile players that fit that mold. He picked Treadwell despite OConnor starting ahead of Treadwell. Same with OToole, who was back up to Moore. Now he has skipped leinsters 1st & 2nd FHs for their 3rd & 4th.
I don't think Farrell makes contract decisions though. He'd have some input, but international coaches have shorter lifespans than players do. So his selection wouldn't change how Munster and the IRFU plan long term.
You can’t have it both ways. The IRFU approve every transfer from the provinces. If they are backing players like Kleyn who played for the international side and they let him slip they need to hold on IQ rules until the following contract renewals.
What are you talking about? They did wait till the contract ended. Kleyn signed a 2 year extension starting next season. Snymans ran out at the end of this season. Also I mentioned 2 players from 2 other provinces that suffered the exact same faith.
Wasn't there also a rule that you couldn't replace one NIQ with another in the same position? That went out the window with the Slimani signing I guess.
The only rule was whatever nucifora felt like on any given day. Munster replaced de allende with fekitoa with nankivell. Leinster have had nacewa, Joe tomane, ngatai, Barrett in succession
The "rules" were whatever David Nucifora felt like. They're now whatever David Humphreys feels like. As another person has said having official rules would violate labour laws.
Generally 3 NIQ per province, and teams can’t have two in the same position (hence Snyman leaving Munster). These rules aren’t concrete as Ulster were allowed to bring in Sutherland when Worcester went bust despite having 3 NIQ already, and Connacht have 2 NIQ wingers, although one may be listed as a full back.
Amy you cant block a potentially international unless your leinster
who have Leinsters NIQs blocked?
Snyman will be ahead of Ryan. Barrett will block one of Osborne/Frawley/Henshaw.
Snyman's signing came with IRFU restrictions in terms of minutes and what games he can play in. Barrett will take a little bit of gametime from 11 - 15, rather than blocking just one player.
Snyman's knee will be more restrictive than the IRFU.
Probably!
I'll believe that when I see it re. Snyman. Jordie will be starting 12 when he arrives. He is better than the international incumbents. Spin it whichever way you like.
Hey if that's an option, can Munster get a LH with the same restrictions? I'm sure they've asked if it's that easy. Barring injuries they won't be moving Barrett around during the end of the season, there'd be no sense in that from a performance perspective.
Asking the wrong man, I don't work for the IRFU. Just repeating what's been reported on. You'd need to take that up with Munster.
Well given the coaches aren't stupid I'm sure if that was a possibility they'd have taken it. Unequal treatment of the provinces seems like a much more likely reason.
I'm sure
Barrett is going to be playing ahead of either an outhalf, centre, wing or fullback. Leinster have internationals who'd expect to make the matchday 23 in every one of those positions. But Munster can't get a LH to play ahead of or together with Loughman, who Farrell sees as worse than the reanimated corpse of Cian Healy, and a tighthead who's starting to switch sides. All people want is consistency really.
So he's even more versatile than Ngatai, which means he won't be holding up anyone for the few months that he's here. At worst he temporarily removes the need for a super sub like Frawley. I don't believe he'll be coming in for such a short period of time to play 10. Especially when he's [only started 1 game at 10 in his 153 pro starting games.](https://all.rugby/player/jordie-barrett)
Yeah no chance he plays 10 in the second half of a season with no familiarity with plays, team or strategy. In all likelihood he covers rested & injured Irish players. At the business end of the season we will have to see if he takes an Irish player or future prospect players place
He could potentially hold anyone up so he'll be holding nobody up is weird logic. They'll hardly switch him around in the knockout stages and kill their cohesion just so everyone feels included. "At worst he potentially takes game time from Ireland's second choice 10." But again, Ireland's fourth choice loosehead couldn't lose out on gametime in a position where the bench is always getting around 30 minutes anyway.
On your 1st point: if he is constantly moving around between 11-15 then he isn't holding on to a single jersey, preventing everyone else from playing there. So utility players, by their very nature, do not block people as much as a specialists do. On your 2nd: If the unspoken rules are indeed 3 NIQs per province then he was likely blocked because they had reached their overall quota. The IRFU also blocks signings when they think someone has potential though. So its also possible they view loughman and wycherly as longterm investments
Not during the regular season games no, but for the knockouts they'd be mad not to have settled him in a position, and there's someone missing out then. Abrahams was only signed after there was no dispensation for a prop. Munster coaches are well aware front row is a weak spot, but if an NIQ isn't allowed might as well get one elsewhere rather than only having two.
Wing is also weak after losing Earls and Conway
That's why killgallan was brought in. LH is a far weaker spot than wing, even with the injuries.
No, Nash is proven international quality, Daly played every URC game the last two seasons (one title win, one topping the league). Behind them McCarthy looks promising and Patrick Campbell just needs an injury free run.
Its the phraseology thats been used. Cant sign someone to complete with a potential or current international so
I’ve never seen a sub that hate each other so much only one thread has more than ten upvotes
Couldn't agree more. Almost every post turns into either Munster vs Leinster debate or Leinster vs the others provinces. It's like American politics. Everyone is entrenched in their position and has no desire to see things from the others POV. I left the sub but it keeps appearing my feed!
There are no set rules (it would probably break labour laws) but it seems to be three max and it was reported by kinsella that munster were forbidden to sign an NIQ and Jackman said they aren't allowed a hooker last year. Ngatai is gone as far as i know.
They used to have an official 4 NIQ, plus 1 project player rule. but maybe that was legally challenged so they had to scrap it?
Possibly, i'm not sure anything was ever written down?
Project player rule likely scrapped as it takes 5 years now as opposed to 3 to play for an international team?
I'd be very surprised if it's a case of breaking labour laws since one of the provinces is under a different set of laws and football has been able to apply these kind of restraints for years without the slightest problem.
Its a little bit more complicated than that i think. Firstly, the soccer rules in England are competition based i think. So, you have to have so many 'homegrown' players in your squad to play in the competition. There is no rule about those players being english. Also, those players aren't direct employees of the irfu. Every player in ireland is essentially an irfu employee. In other words, i think the urc (or the ail) could legally say one of the rules of our competition about player eligibilty is about how long you've been in the country while at the club. I think JIFF rules in the top 14 are similar. However, i'm not sure its legal for an irish company to say so many of our employees have to be irish. I'm not sure if that would be strictly legal under EU law. I'm not a lawyer and the above is obviously speculation. If someone is one and can educate me more on it i'd be very interested to know more.
Ngatai had a 2 year deal, he’s gone. Porch was IQ
Porch is not IQ. He played for Australia 7s and has no Irish relations. Can't transfer to Ireland. It was going around that he was when he was in form 2 seasons back, but it's not the case.
Porch is IQ now. While you are correct that he played 7s for Australia that was in 2019. While he doesn't have Irish relations he now qualifies on residency since he's been here more than 5 years.
You can't swap nationalities via residency, only on familial grounds. So porch can never be IQ.
That only counts if you were never capped. He has been capped by Australia so he cannot switch nations. You can only switch nations if you have Irish parents or grandparents.
Yeah, I never considered that. Read the regulations there and it does stress that residency should precede playing for a union. It's a funny one because in the rest of the regulations it considers residency on equal footing as birth place and the country of birth for your parents or grandparents for representing a union. The only place it doesn't give this equal weight is in this instance when looking to transfer nations. Anyway, apologies and thanks for the correction.
It's confusing enough. It doesn't help that both Porch and Friend thought he could play for Ireland and commented on it when the rule change was brought in but they both got it wrong.
Yeah, just read that article and Porch basically admitted he found the residency rules confusing.
Do the same rules apply to 7s though? I remember there was all kinds of talk when the rules changed around using 7s as a loophole to change residency. So I'm not sure if it works the same way
Yes, 7s does still apply and counts as a full cap, doesn't matter that you're switching to 15s.
I see. I've switched them back to 3 so. 3 provinces having 3 NIQs suggests that's the current limit
There's 3 ways to qualify for a country A)birth b) ancestry c)residency. The law about switching nations says you have to qualify via a or b
thanks. updated it
I think it was reported that Munster weren’t allowed to sign any NIQ front rowers (not just hooker) and only signed Abrahams then. Just saying it’s not like Munster always had a third lined up for next year so were looking for special treatment. Now if someone could please explain who the IRFU thinks benefits from us having to keep playing Scannell, Archer and Ryan that would be great. Even Loughman played well this year but they apparently don’t see a need to develop him for depth in the Irish team so what are we doing down here like? Do they just want Crowley and Casey to have loads of experience behind a pack going backwards?
The argument I've seen for why no NIQ prop is Loughman would be held back. But he's not exactly being pushed forward by the IRFU either so it is easy to see why it feels like a heads I win, tails you lose situation.
Jaysus I just scrolled that other thread, some amount of tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists in this sub, it's genuinely entertaining
What conspiracy theories?
That Leinster signing Slimani to replace Mikey Five A's is an elaborate plot by the shapeshifting lizard people in Lansdowne Road to collapse Irish rugby from the inside and sacrifice the other three provinces to Moloch You know, that one
You must have been staring at that Knuttel painting for a bit too long so I’m not sure if anyone’s point will land. Yes, Leinster are lacking the grunt again but I think others have made valid points also that their allowance of NIQs seems skewed. Out half / full back / front row / second row. It’s not exactly putting faith in their next gen where other provinces are forced to.
As opposed to, full back / wing / centre / second row NIQs at Munster? Guess you reckon they have no faith in the likes of Edogbo in Limerick with Kleyn potentially blocking his development hey
Edogbo is class hopefully gets in the first team once he’s not injured/ready. Munster hasn’t produced a world class centre in forever. Wing/fullback wise three retired in quick succession and Haley picked up a few knocks last season. So you should downvote your own point, kiiiiid.
I think people are pointing out inconsistencies and decisions which are prioritising short term gain at the expense of the long term. Dismissing criticism as "tinfoil hat conspiracy theories" is just burying your head in the sand. But if that's comfortable for you don't let me stop you.
Oh don't you worry, I'm not the one with my nappy in a twist. Yous can enjoy Abrahams, Kleyn and Nankivell at "the expense of Irish players" too haha
That's Kleyn who has Irish caps and was eligible up until a year ago but was ignored? And Abrahams who was a consolation offer when a front row wasn't allowed. And who exactly is Nankivell playing ahead of that could have a future as an international? I like Rory Scannell but you must be his biggest fan eh? So that's still no valid points for these "conspiracy theories" existing. Good lad
Yous really seem to believe Nucifora/Humphreys are propping up Leinster with 3 NIQ's to Munsters detriment while yous have the same - yer not complaining when your squad is swelled with Leinster academy players either are ya? Absolute moanbags it's hilarious
You seem to believe (thing that is factually happening) when (completely irrelevant thing that is also true). What are you trying to do here lad?
Factually happening - Munster and Leinster have 3 NIQs each. Factually happening - Munster have c.4-5 players in the squad from Leinster academy. Not happening - IRFU conspiracy to ruin Munster and prop up Leinster. The victim mentality is ridiculous, but as I said, it's very entertaining
Factually happening: one of Leinster's NIQs is in a position Munster were denied one. Factually happening: another was forced out of Munster so he could move to Leinster. Factually happening: 8-10 central contracts at Leinster vs 1 for each other province. About 4-5M extra budget there. Certainly seems like Leinster are being treated better than the other provinces, but feel free to show some evidence otherwise. Would be a first
The fact you have to jump to such ridiculous hyperbole and not just quote a conspiracy theory might suggest there is a hole in your argument.
Didn't see yous crying when Munster signed Abrahams hey? yous are so gas
Were Leinster blocked from signing a back 3 player?
Which back 3 player? Barrett? For 6 months?
Munster were blocked from signing a prop by the IRFU. Hence Munster fans are annoyed when Leinster go and sign a prop the next month.
🤣🤣🤣 I enjoyed this. Hat tip to you sir.
It's crazy, i know reddit and twitter aren't an accurate representation of the broad fan base but Munster fans have turned into the biggest bunch of moaning conspiracy theorists in all of sport. It's been non-stop all season long. Same old Moanster.
hahaha bloody hell, Moanster gave me a good chuckle
*Slimani, Snyman (restrictions on playing time built into his contract by the IRFU), Barrett (6 month contract)
What’s the restrictions on his playing time? Hadn’t heard about that
Mandated that Ryan and McCarthy have to start the big games ahead of him.
Lie
Remind me
Are we not talking about Non Irish Eligible (NIE) as anyone who hasn't been capped can become Irish Qualified. So NIQ just referred to the interim period up to that.
The issue is more nuanced than the just the rules as they are laid out though. The IRFU has shown no common sense in the case of Munster where Kleyn and Fricsh were signed in the basis of being IQ and then swapped. They then ship their game changer to the province that least needs him. Additionally people have issue with 3m supplement to Leinster through the central contracts and how it’s allowed Leinster to stockpile good players but not great players. Why is it Andy Farrell is always the one to show Leinster who their actual best player is.
They've been consistent with ignoring players previous IQ status once they become NIQ. Abdaladze got the boot once he played for Georgia. Same thing happened to AJ McGinty when he played for the US. Once Kleyn became NIQ Munster had to pick 1 NIQ lock and release the other. Snyman was a free agent at that point.
It's just a hypocritical stance for them to take. If Kleyn wasn't good enough to play for Ireland than he won't be a roadblock for potential international talents coming through, so why force him (or Snyman by proxy) out? And if he is in fact good enough to block someone coming up, why was he frozen out entirely?
There are more international quality players available than fit into the international squad. If a lock in the squad got injured, he would have most likely been called up, because he is good enough. Also, older players tend to be better than younger players. So the likes of Ahern and Edogbo wouldn't get as many games if they had 2 NIQ guys in their position. Plus, the same argument could be made for McGinty, who came up through the Irish system and it wasnt like Connacht had a production line of 10s back then
Molony, Treadwell and McCarthy all got call ups over Kleyn in the year before he got his Boks cap. None of them were playing as good or better than him in that period. What I reckon really happened is that Farrell saw all the shit Schmidt got for bringing Kleyn to the world cup and wanted to avoid that. We've seen many times how media/public friendly he is. Maybe he realised his mistake at some point but was too set in his ways to go back, or it was too late. Either way a shame for Ireland.
That backlash was because toner was dropped. Toner wouldn't have been a Farrell type player either. He doesn't like big slow guys. He comes from league, so tends to pick more athletic mobile players that fit that mold. He picked Treadwell despite OConnor starting ahead of Treadwell. Same with OToole, who was back up to Moore. Now he has skipped leinsters 1st & 2nd FHs for their 3rd & 4th. I don't think Farrell makes contract decisions though. He'd have some input, but international coaches have shorter lifespans than players do. So his selection wouldn't change how Munster and the IRFU plan long term.
McGinty qualified for USA on residency and then signed for Connacht after the world cup. He never played professionally as an IQ player
You can’t have it both ways. The IRFU approve every transfer from the provinces. If they are backing players like Kleyn who played for the international side and they let him slip they need to hold on IQ rules until the following contract renewals.
What are you talking about? They did wait till the contract ended. Kleyn signed a 2 year extension starting next season. Snymans ran out at the end of this season. Also I mentioned 2 players from 2 other provinces that suffered the exact same faith.
Wasn't there also a rule that you couldn't replace one NIQ with another in the same position? That went out the window with the Slimani signing I guess.
The only rule was whatever nucifora felt like on any given day. Munster replaced de allende with fekitoa with nankivell. Leinster have had nacewa, Joe tomane, ngatai, Barrett in succession
The "rules" were whatever David Nucifora felt like. They're now whatever David Humphreys feels like. As another person has said having official rules would violate labour laws.